Shaanxi

About Shaanxi


'' (; Postal map spelling: ''Shensi'') is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of the province.
By regular Hanyu Pinyin rules, if tone marks are not written, both Shaanxi and the neighbouring province of Shanxi should be spelled "Shanxi"; the difference is in tone: Shﾄ］xﾄｫ and Shﾇ始xﾄｫ. To make the difference clear without tonal marks, the spelling "Shaanxi" was contrived (following the romanization system of Yuen Ren Chao) for the province of Shﾇ始xﾄｫ, while "Shanxi" is used for the province of Shﾄ］xﾄｫ. It is also the official spelling on Chinese Government's official web portal.

Contents
History
Geography
Administration
Economy
Demographics
Culture
Tourism
Media
Miscellaneous topics
References
External links

History


Shaanxi (and the city of Xi'an therein) are considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in this province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. It is also the starting point of the Silk Road which leads to Europe, Arabia and Africa.
Under the Ming dynasty, Shaanxi was incorporated into Gansu but was again separated in the Qing dynasty.
One of the most devastating earthquakes in history occurred near Hua Shan, in south-eastern part of Shaanxi Province on January 23, 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people (see 1556 Shaanxi earthquake).
The end of the short-lived Jiangxi Soviet signalled the beginning of the Long March by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communists to the Shaanxi Soviet at Yan'an.

Geography


Desert in the north along the border with Inner Mongolia, the Loess Plateau in the central part of the province, the Qinling mountains running east to west in the south central part, and subtropical climate south of the Qinling mountains.
The northern part of Shaanxi is cold in the winter and very hot in summer with dry winter and spring. Its southern portion generally receives more rain. Annual mean temperature is roughly between 9ﾂｰC and 16ﾂｰC with January temperature ranging from −11ﾂｰC to 3.5ﾂｰC and July temperature ranging from 21ﾂｰC to 28ﾂｰC.
Other cities include: Baoji, Hanzhong, Lintong, Tongchuan, Xianyang, Yan'an, Ankang.

Administration


Shaanxi consists of nine prefecture-level cities and the city of Xi'an. The prefecture-level cities are:

★ Yulin

★ Yan'an

★ Tongchuan

★ Weinan

★ Xianyang

★ Baoji

★ Shangluo

★ Ankang

★ Hanzhong
See 'List of administrative divisions of Shaanxi' for a complete list of county-level divisions.

Economy


Shaanxi's nominal GDP for 2004 was 288.4 RMB (35.78 billion USD) and GDP Per Capita was 6536 RMB (789 USD). It ranked 22nd in the PRC.

Demographics


Nearly all the people in Shaanxi are comprised of ethnic Han Chinese, with pockets of Hui population in the north western region (adjacent to Ningxia). The southern part of Shaanxi, known as Guanzhong, where the provincial capital Xi'an is located, is more populated compared to the northern part.

Culture



★ Qinqiang, the representative folk opera of Shaanxi.

Tourism


Terracotta Army


★ Banpo Neolithic village, near Xi'an

★ Daqin Pagoda

★ Imperial mausoleums

★
★ Zhao Mausoleum

★ Huashan (Mount Hua), one of the five most famous mountains in China.

★ Taibaishan (Mount Taibai), the highest peak of the Qinling Range.

★ Mausoleum and Terracotta Army Museum of the First Qin Emperor in Xi'an (World Heritage Site)

★ The city of Xi'an: City Walls, Great Mosque, Bell Tower and Drum Tower, Forest of Stone Steles Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Wild Goose Pagoda

★ Yan'an, the destination of the Long March and the center of Chinese Communist revolution from 1935 to 1948

★ Biang Biang Noodles, one of the "ten strange wonders of Shaanxi" (髯晁･ｿ蜊∝､ｧ諤ｪ)

Media



★ Shaanxi Radio serves Xi'an and the surrounding Shaanxi province area with music, and news.

★ The Story of Yue Fei, a 17 窶 18th century wuxia fiction novel about the life of Song Dynasty general Yue Fei, says his military arts teacher, Zhou Tong, was from Shaanxi.[1]

Miscellaneous topics


Professional sports teams based in Shaanxi include:

★ Chinese Basketball Association

★
★ Shaanxi Kylins

★ Chinese Football Association Jia League

★
★ Xi'an Anxinyuan

References


1. Qian, Cai. ''General Yue Fei''. Trans. Honorable Sir T.L. Yang. Joint Publishing (H.K.) Co., Ltd., 1995 (ISBN 978-962-04-1279-0)

External links



★ The official website of Shaanxi

★ Brief Introductions and Functions of Component Organizations of Shaanxi Provincial Government and Its Subordinate Bodies

★ Map of Shaanxi Province and Map of Xi'an City

★ Travel guide to Shaanxi

★ Large map of Shaanxi

★ Snapshots of Xi'an today

★ China Shaanxi - a blog about Shaanxi

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